


Secrets

by RaggsEnriches



Category: Charité | Charité at War (TV)
Genre: Angst, Evening, Fluff, M/M, historical-ish, martin's flat, slightly slightly slightly smutty, the boys, thought I should contribute something more, tw:mentions of abuse, very light descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaggsEnriches/pseuds/RaggsEnriches
Summary: A question is asked. The veil of a past is ripped a little more.
Relationships: Otto Marquardt/Martin Schelling
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> I come back to this fandom bearing a one-shot that actually surpasses 1,000 words. (Somehow it also landed that I'm posting on Valentine's Day, which I think is fitting.) This one's still as gentle and fluffy (and angsty) as anything else I could possibly write for Otto and Martin. I'd also like to mention that I'm really happy the tag is slowly getting longer, and I love reading every single story anyone posts to it (because of course I read each one, why wouldn't I?). And thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments on my other two little stories here, your appreciation really helped push me to finishing writing this one.  
> With all of that said, I do hope the people who do stumble upon this enjoy it!

“Martin?” He asked one evening as they sat on the bed with mussed hair and clothing, Otto straddling the nurse’s lap with arms wrapped around his torso as best he could with the wall behind them.  


“Yes?” the nurse asked, face pressed into Otto’s shoulder.  


“I’ve never asked about your family.” He replied.  


A shudder went through Martin that was so strong he felt it.  


“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have -”  


“It’s fine, Otto.” He sounded pained. “I-I should tell you more. I already know so much about you, I suppose I never thought that you might want to hear more about me.”  


Otto reached one hand up to raise Martin’s face gently off of his shoulder, staring into soft blue eyes as one of Martin’s arms snaked up from his hip to grip the hand.  


“My family abandoned me,” Martin took a deep breath, “I was arrested while my father was in the hospital for a minor heart attack and when my mother learned of it she didn’t tell him until after he was discharged. I don’t know how she managed to keep it from him since he was at the Charite, but I suppose it was for the best in her eyes. I was let out a few weeks later; they came and found me at my flat.  


‘He nearly beat me to death. To him, the only good thing I could do was die for my country.”  


Otto leaned his forehead against Martin’s, breathing in slowly. He despised the despair that was running through the man. Martin was shaking like a leaf.  


“I don’t know what my mother thought. She let him have his way, never saying a word to intervene or to encourage him. When I went to the front, they never sent any letters. When I was shot, they did not come to visit. My sisters haven’t sent a single letter or card since before…”  


“Oh, Martin.” he breathed softly.  


“I believe that they told Katharine and Henrietta before I was able to say anything, perhaps even when I was still imprisoned. Either way, I imagine neither of them has any wish to see me ever again.”  


“But it must still hurt.”  


“I’ve learned to live with it.” Martin’s watery eyes betrayed him. “I doubt my family still knows I’m still alive, and I know they don’t care. The last they heard was that I had been discharged. But now I have you.”  


“And what does that mean?” Otto asked, despite knowing the answer.  


“That I have someone who numbs the pain better than the strongest drug.”  


He leaned in to kiss Martin as softly as he could, lacking the usual urgency. There was no need for desperate passion when he was trying to heal his lover’s wounds, deep as they were.  


Tears began to touch their lips and Martin pulled back quickly, wiping at his eyes as if ashamed.  


“Martin, Martin no you don’t need to -” Otto lifted his hand to pull Martin’s face back towards him.  


“I’m sorry,” The other man shook his head. “I haven’t had the ability to talk about this before, I promise I’m over the pain.”  


“It’s nothing you need to apologize for. If my family knew and treated me like that,” he felt a chill go up his spine. “I would never get over it.”  


If he lost Anni, he wouldn’t be nearly as strong as Martin. He would be lost to disillusion and pain, stuck in a world of denial. There were many reasons Otto had never truly told her much about his personal life since they were adolescents, but the most important one was the terrifying idea of losing her.  


“Besides, it shows that you are much stronger than me. To be able to function properly after that sort of treatment takes a special kind of strength.” He smiled softly.  


Martin only nodded, eyes flitting anxiously over Otto’s face. Otto took the opportunity to analyze the blue eyes without their usual cover of glass. He often found that if he looked deep enough, he could find the answers to the universe inside of them. He took the chance to make another inquiry.  


“Your childhood was surely a happy one?”  


“It was relatively uneventful.” Martin said. “Sometimes he would take his anger out on us, but I only received a broken nose and a black eye once or twice.”  


They fell into a tense silence for a few minutes as Otto sat and stewed in the thoughts that boiled in his mind.  


“Don’t feel bad that you asked, Otto,”  


“You almost died by the hands of your own father.”  


“But I didn’t. And now I’m here, Otto, and I’m all yours, no one else’s.” Martin replied with a soft curve of his lips.  


Otto closed the distance between them once more, this time pushing the man against the wall feverishly. It had been a lengthy evening already but he did not want it to end. Martin clearly didn’t either, if he went by the way the other man’s hands gripped his hips.  


“I’m always yours.” He murmured when they parted.  


“That’s why I’m willing to tell you about my past, and know that you will keep it to yourself.”  


“I’ve had practice keeping big secrets to myself.” Otto said with a smirk.  


Martin laughed gently, “I’m quite aware. None of your family is aware?”  


“Anni has commented on how I’ve remained alone all this time, but she says nothing that hints at any suspicion of her own. I haven’t had someone to hide for very long before.” At any other time, this would have embarrassed him to admit. Now it was easy to say with a shrug.  


"Then I will be your second biggest secret."  


"I'm sorry it has to be this way," said Otto.  


"The risk of her knowing and following in the path of my family would be too great, you know this, Otto." Martin replied, kissing his forehead softly. "I never want to be the force behind Anni finding out."  


Otto hesitated, nearly daring to state that he would not mind it if Martin _was _the reason Anni learned about the real Otto Marquardt - whoever he was - but stopped to avoid any disapproving looks from the nurse. As if he sensed the younger man's thoughts, Martin laughed softly once again.  
__

__"You will not make that mistake, I'm sure of it."  
_ _

__"Are you?" Otto waggled an eyebrow at Martin teasingly.  
_ _

__"Well now I’m not sure. If you continue to look at me like that I may have to tell all the world what a fool my lover is." said Martin.  
_ _

__Instead of replying, Otto lowered his head to gently nip at Martin's neck. The familiar gathering heat low in his stomach as he continued down the neck and onto the chest and stomach (all of which had been bare for a lengthy time by then) told Otto that this conversation was about to be lost to bliss. Martin arching up against his fingertips as they followed the actions of his mouth was a clue as to the path the rest of the night was taking.  
_ _

__Sometimes, the best medicine for their hidden scars was the ability to become ignorant of the facts.  
_ _

__Besides, it was a good excuse to stay in Martin's bed into the dark hours of the night._ _


End file.
